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STOXX 600 up 0.1

Feb 14 Reuters European shares edged higher on Wednesday as a softerthanexpected UK inflation boosted hopes of imminent interestrate cuts by the Bank of England, while investors awaited more economic data from euro zone later in the day.

Global markets are still recovering from a higherthanexpected inflation reading in the United States, which pushed back ratecut expectations and led to an overnight selloff at the Wall Street.

The panEuropean STOXX 600 was up 0.1, while UK39;s benchmark index gained 0.3 after British consumer price inflation grew at a slower pace than expected in January.

Among sectors, miners led the declines with a 1.1 fall, touching a near fourmonth low.

On the one hand, the UK economy is fragile, and the labour market has loosened materially over the last year. These are all reasons to cut rates, said Michael Field, European market strategist at Morningstar.

Inflation however remains elevated, at levels significantly higher than in the US and indeed the Eurozone.

Meanwhile, European Central Bank VicePresident Luis de Guindos said the region39;s inflation appears to be heading back to 2, but more data is needed before the ECB can be comfortable that recordhigh rates have done their job.

Investors will now shift focus to GDP…